The black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) is an economically important species. However, wild S. schlegelii resources have declined sharply in recent years as a result of human disturbance and habitat destruction. Thus, it is crucial to protect the current resources of S. schlegelii. In this study, 38 novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed based on restriction-site associated

Todarodes pacificus is a commercially important squid species; however, there is little information available regarding the population genetics of this species and effective molecular markers are still unavailable. In the present study, 107 novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed using Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS). The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0

Academics and city administrations generally agree that environmental management decisions should be science based, which suggests the value of collaboration between city officials and researchers. Such collaboration, termed “ecology with cities”, is an example of translational ecology that should integrate ecological and social sciences to inform decision-makers. However, there has been insufficient

The biodiversity conservation value of urban green spaces depends in part on design and management. The importance of habitat quality and complexity to species diversity has led to the suggestion that habitat design elements—varied substrate, greater plant diversity, logs or stones—would support invertebrate diversity on green roofs. To evaluate this possibility, we conducted pit-fall trap sampling

Increasing global temperatures and frequency of low precipitation have made drought a major natural disaster around the world. Drought is a major threat to China's food security. Thus, the recent abnormal characteristics of Chinese droughts warrant further study. We therefore examined daily air temperature and precipitation from 1961 to 2014 at 572 Chinese meteorological stations. We used an improved

Human activities such as livestock raising have modified the Mexican High Plateau in a land-use mosaic. We assessed the response of dung beetles to three livestock management systems with different intensities of cattle rearing, which determines their respective vegetation coverage. We found significant differences in species diversity in the three systems, due mainly to Euoniticellus intermedius and

The semiarid region of Northeast Brazil is characterized by recurrent drought episodes. The magnitude of drought events may be assessed using standardized climate indices (SCIs) based on hydrometeorological variables, including precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and streamflow. Drought monitoring may be improved using the concept of drought propagation, which considers the existing link

Research has shown the occurrence of the hormesis effect in some upland rice cultures resulting from low-dose application of glyphosate. Glyphosate herbicide is widely used in Brazilian agriculture for controlling the large quantity of weeds. The aim of this work was to verify the effects of low-dose application of glyphosate herbicide on agronomic characteristics in upland rice. The experimental design

Since the 1990s Namibia's Conservancies have been depicted as one of the most successful examples of Community Conservation. The growth in game numbers caused by the conservation programme, however, has led to an increase in Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) incidents. These include damages to crops and to infrastructure, the killing of livestock, attacks on humans, and higher levels of psychological stress

Many-lined sun skink (Eutropis multifasciata) is a medium sized viviparous scincid lizard. Insufficient molecular markers have limited the effective conservation and management of E. multifasciata. In the present study, 28 novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were developed from the transcriptome dataset of E. multifasciata using SNaPshot method. The minor allele frequency ranged from

Urbanization is one of the most lasting anthropogenic disturbances threatening native species diversity including ants. Ants play important ecological functions such as seed dispersal, biological pest control, and bio-indicators of environmental changes. Herein, we investigated and tracked ant communities in three sites (rural, suburban and urban) in 2007 and resampled the same categories ten years

Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of animal-vehicle collisions is a crucial step for the implementation of efficient mitigation measures of this worldwide threat against biodiversity. In this study we investigated vertebrate road-kills in a pre-Saharan area in southern Tunisia. In particular, we assessed how road mortality varied according to land cover and season. From February 2019 to January

Pallas's cats range across Central Asia and commonly consume small mammals. Most studies on Pallas's cats' diets found that they strongly selected particular prey species, such as pika (Ochotona spp.). Pika occurrence in Pallas's cat diet was disproportionately high compared to availability in Central Mongolia. We conducted research into Pallas's cat ecology in Khalzan Soum, Sukhbaatar Aimag since

Shrub encroachment into arid grasslands occurs globally with the potential to affect vertebrates and their interactions. In the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, shrub encroachment has prompted intensive efforts by land management agencies to remove shrubs and restore historical grassland habitats. We asked if restoration actions involving shrub removal affected dynamics of intraguild predation

Animals from urban areas are regularly brought into wildlife rehabilitation centers, providing untapped potential data records to inform management of wildlife species. Although rescues may be considered a wildlife stewardship behavior, not all ‘rescues’ may be warranted. Some animals are more likely to be brought into a rescue center than others, suggesting that human drivers underlying wildlife rehabilitation

In this study, an assessment of similarity relationships across runoff measurements at various spatial scales was carried in a typical Sahelian landscape, under semi-arid climate in northern Burkina Faso (west African Sahel). The scales of observations considered are the plot scale (1 m2, 50 m2, 150 m2) and the sub-catchment scale (6.1 ha, 33.8 ha), with various soil surface conditions and slopes.

We evaluated the fire severity and recovery process of the Latroon dry forest in Jordan following the 2003 fire. A series of multi-temporal Landsat-ETM + data and the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR) were used to map the fire severity immediately following the fire and 1,5,9,13 and 17 years after. In addition, combined field morpho-physiological measurements, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were also

Der Anbau von Winterraps (Brassica napus L.) wird durch das Auftreten tierischer Schaderreger begleitet, wodurch ein intensiver Insektizid-Einsatz nötig ist. Insbesondere das Anwendungsverbot neonicotinoider Beizen in Winterraps schränkt jedoch die Möglichkeiten der Insektenbekämpfung für landwirtschaftliche Betriebe in der Europäischen Union (EU) ein. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht den Insektizid-Einsatz

We investigated conservation status, biodiversity potentials and economic contribution of urban tree Ecosystems in Nigerian cities. A total of 32 families were encountered respectively in Makurdi (17), Ilorin (18) and Lokoja (25) urban forests. The diversity index, richness and evenness of the tree species were in the order Ilorin > Lokoja > Makurdi urban forests and decreased as the population of

A set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) was developed from the transcriptome of the gorgonian Leptogorgia sarmentosa. 21,491 putative SNPs were identified, and a selected set of 320 SNPs was tested using a MassARRAY System on 95 samples from the NW Mediterranean. A total of 153 SNPs were successfully genotyped and found to be polymorphic. The newly developed loci will be a valuable tool for

Cities represent enviroment for most of Europe's human population. Spatial pattern of cities' environmental as well as socioeconomic features affect plant biodiversity. We analysed a floristic mapping dataset of the city of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and asked what affects the spatial differences in the presence of different categories of species: species according to residence time and endangered and thermophilic

Perennial plants of desert regions can be categorized as short-, moderate-, or long-lived. For long-lived species, the typical range of adult life spans is often poorly known, as well as how reproductive effort is apportioned across years. Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), a large shrub of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts, is considered long-lived and flowers spectacularly, but few data exist on these

Rangelands are complex social-ecological systems (SES) commonly used to support ranching and other agrarian livelihoods. Common to Earth's drylands, rangelands are susceptible to drought, desertification, and land degradation from both climatic and human activities. In the arid Americas, ranching communities are often located in watersheds and rely on local riparian resources (e.g. surface- and ground-water)

The Atlantic goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822), is considered a critically endangered species. Since 2002, fishing, storage, transport, and marketing of E. itajara has been prohibited in Brazil. However, there are records of fishing of E. itajara in the Brazilian state of Pará. This study recorded the illegal sale of E. itajara fillets in the municipality of Bragança, as well

Prosopis pallida (algarrobo) is a highly adapted species to extremely dry and wet conditions. Its geographic distribution at both sides of the Pacific Ocean is associated with its plastic response to El Niño event, an extreme climate event that changes precipitation regimes. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge of this versatile species based on scientific literature. Our analysis conducted

Urbanisation processes are increasing worldwide at surprising rates affecting wildlife in many ways: changing habitat structure, reducing resources, and modifying the distribution, composition and abundance of local biota. In different countries, urban waste collection techniques are evolving and surface rubbish containers (neighbourhood receptacles for temporarily storing anthropogenic household waste

The need for hydrologic restoration is well established in stream ecosystems across the world; however, available funding for catchment-scale restoration typically falls far short of what is required to produce in-stream results. Hydrologic restoration can be particularly important for improving stream integrity in urban watersheds, but implementation can be challenging due to high property values

Predicting the impact of overgrazing on soil properties, and thus on plant succession, in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is one of the primary technical bottlenecks in alpine meadow conservation. Four degradation intensities, namely D1: light degradation, D2: moderate degradation, D3: high degradation, and a non-degraded site as the control (CK), were identified. The soil properties and plant community

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is an economically important nut crop that is prone to drought stress since it is mainly produced in arid and semi-arid regions. Considering the possible impact of salicylic acid (SA) on drought tolerance of pistachio, several physiological and biochemical responses of pistachio seedlings to foliar application of SA under progressive drought treatment were investigated

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) presence in the Great Basin is associated with an increase in fire frequency and size, likely due to increased spatial continuity of fine fuel biomass. Measurements of the extent and cover of cheatgrass are steadily improving, but the strength of the relationship between cover and aboveground biomass (AGB) is unclear. An allometric equation that can reliably convert

The Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica), can be found in the arid regions of the Negev highlands, the Judean desert, and the northern Arava in a number of clustered populations located near permanent water sources. The trees' distribution in the desert regions is not continuous, being disconnected from its major area of distribution along the Jordan River, where its distribution is uninterrupted

Phosphites and chitosan were evaluated in target spot control, nutrition and gas exchange in cucumbers. Three weekly sprayings of commercial products were conducted, and Corynespora cassiicola (causal agent of target spot) was inoculated in the second and third true leaves four days after the last spraying. Zn, Mn, K and Cu phosphites reduced the disease severity, but the treatments had no effect on

There is strong empirical evidence on the importance of the spatial pattern of vegetation in dryland hydrologic and geomorphologic dynamics. However, changes in vegetation cover and spatial pattern are often linked, making it difficult to disentangle and assess their independent hydro-geomorphologic roles. We used synthetic sponges placed on the soil surface to mimic the aboveground structure of vegetation

This study aims at investigating the spatial and temporal variability of the seasonal rainfall over Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, relying on rainfall data taken from gridded data of four gauge stations for 35 years. Moreover, this study determines the teleconnection between the seasonal rainfall and equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature (El Niño SST) over El Arish and Wadi Watir. Due to non-stationary

Soil salinity is one of the ecological problems limiting plant growth and development, especially in semi-arid and arid regions where water availability is very limited. Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Asteraceae) is known for its sweetness and non-caloric products (steviol glycosides). It can be considered as a plant for the future sugar industry and human health nutrition. The present work aims to study

Soluble silicon (Si) plays a pivotal role in the nutritional status of a wide variety of field crops and helps them, whether directly or indirectly, counteract fungal diseases. There is a paucity of information about the effect of Si on reducing Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease in wheat. This study aimed to evaluate the function of Si supplied to bread (moderately resistant) and durum (susceptible)

Irrigation with saline water can act as an alternate water resource and thus plays an important role in saving freshwater resources as well as promoting agriculture. Furthermore, salinity stress is considered one of the major abiotic stress factors, which strongly reduces crop productivity. In this context, the present work was conducted to examine the effect of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) application

To better study and manage chestnut trees and species, we identified nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers using restriction-associated DNA sequencing. Out of 343 loci tested, 68 SNP markers were selected that withhold stringent quality criteria such as quasi-systematic amplification across species and Mendelian segregation in both purebred and hybrid individuals. They provide sufficient

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a promising biomonitoring tool for marine ecosystems, but its effectiveness for North Pacific coastal fishes is limited by the inability of existing barcoding primers to differentiate among rockfishes in the genus Sebastes. Comprised of 110 commercially and ecologically important species, this recent radiation is exceptionally speciose, and exhibits high sequence similarity

We studied foraging patterns of Raramuri Criollo (heritage breed, “RC”) and Angus x Hereford (commercial beef breed, “AH”) cows in relation to ambient heat and body temperature during summer (2016 and 2017) and winter (2017 and 2018) in the Chihuahuan Desert. Cows of each breed grazed separately in two adjacent pastures (~1100 ha) in a crossover design for four weeks in each season/year. Animals were

The recent increase of irrigation practices in forage cactus crops makes appropriate irrigation management criteria necessary. In this study, the morphological and yield characteristics of forage cactus cultivars were evaluated for some soil-based irrigation management criteria. Five experiments were carried out simultaneously under semiarid conditions in a randomized block design, with forage cactus

Soil respiration (SR) is an important process and the largest source of carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems, which has a significant impact on global climate and environmental changes. The fluctuation of temperature and precipitation caused by climate change is a driving force for the dynamic change of SR. Therefore, we established the field experiment with 5 levels of precipitation by rainout shelters

Burrow system has been proven to be an effective strategy to avoid the interference of adverse circumstances on nesting animals inhabiting the unsuitable environment. To verify the ecological function of burrows in Phrynocephalus przewalskii, 20 sets of thermal characteristics including bottom temperature of real and manmade burrow, and sand surface temperature at burrow entrance were recorded every

Soil respiration is a critical pathway in the carbon cycle, accounting for a major flux of carbon from the biosphere to the atmosphere. However, controls over soil respiration are poorly understood in drylands. Fire is prevalent in many drylands, potentially causing both direct and indirect changes in soil respiration through altering vegetation patterns, soil organic matter, and microclimate. We investigated

Application of nanoparticles (NPs) in the management of plant diseases may reduce the use of pesticides and enhance food security. In this study, the effects of TiO2 NPs in 100 and 200 mg L−1 concentrations were examined against Meloidogyne incognita (Mi), Pectobacterium betavasculorum (Pb) and Rhizoctonia solani (Rs) under in vitro conditions and in a pot experiment. TiO2 NPs inhibited the growth

The use of museum specimens held in natural history repositories for population and conservation genetic research is increasing in tandem with the use of massively parallel sequencing technologies. Short Tandem Repeats (STRs), or microsatellite loci, are commonly used genetic markers in wildlife and population genetic studies. However, they traditionally suffered from a host of issues including length

Many rangelands in the southwestern United States have experienced increased shrub cover and lower and more variable forage resources during the past 100 years. Criollo cattle are descendants of cattle brought to the Americas by European explorers that spread throughout North and South America. These cattle were displaced in many areas as British breeds became popular, but isolated populations remained

The present study is aimed at the analysis of possibilities for shading southern frontage of street oriented along the E-W axis by the single row of trees, parallel to the southern elevations. The effectiveness of solar control shading was tested depending on the geometric relationships between trees and buildings. Numerical simulation analyses were conducted in Rhinoceros® program for the street located

Domestic wood collection affects plant communities through constant biomass removal. We assessed the effects of wood collection for firewood and fence construction on tree community structure in a seasonally dry tropical forest in Brazil. We described the harvest patterns of wood products. Further, we evaluated the effects of rainfall levels and wood collection on tree community structure. Most wood

Fungus-growing termites have long been considered as ecosystem engineers for the modifications they make to the soil, through their ability to concentrate nutrients and create patches of fertile land. However, few studies have highlighted the degree to which, in building their mounds, they are able to modify the grain-size distributions of the sediments and soils in their surroundings. Therefore, the

City life is harsh and inhospitable for many animal species, particularly for non-volant mammals that face increased mortality risks in urban settings. Yet, studies on non-volant city mammals are limited and mostly restricted to temperate regions. Here, I evaluated the density and adaptability of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a species with a series of advantageous pre-adaptations that

Urbanization is a major form of landscape transformation that often results in habitat degradation and loss for birds. However, effects on avian populations are trait- and context-dependent, and persistence at urban patches is likely to be a function of habitat availability at the landscape scale. Here, we aimed to assess the breeding performance and foraging ecology of a widespread shorebird, the

Dryland agriculture has extensive impacts on surrounding ecosystems through its unintentional provision of food and water resources to local wildlife. We analyzed the response of a predator community of jackals, wolves and foxes to land-management choices, and how that response in turn affects native gazelles and Acacia vegetation in the Arava Valley of Israel. This hyperarid region is characterized